Financial Management Platform 8 Securities Closes $9M Series B

Stock trading and financial management platform 8 Securities has closed a $9 million Series B to support its expansion in Japan and China. Returning investors include Velocity Capital and Leitmotiv Private Equity.

CEO Mikaal Abdulla says that the funds will be used to advertise 8 Capital’s new products, including its new Auto Portfolio and Social Trading products. In addition, 8 Securities, which is based in Tokyo and Hong Kong, also plans to enter mainland China this year.

The product will be mobile-based to appeal to younger customers, who take a short survey to assess their investment needs, and then are presented with an automatically-generated portfolio of up to 16 global exchange traded funds. 8 Securities’ users can then pick the amount the want to invest and check how its performing on their smartphones or tablets. 8 Securities’ charges 0.5% of the portfolio’s average annual value, without additional fees or commissions.

In a statement, Nobofumi Iimori, the president of 8 Securities in Japan, said There are over $15 trillion in investible assets held by individuals in Japan today which is second only to the United States. There is growing demand by individuals in Japan to hold investments in foreign markets. Investors want to move beyond holding only Japanese assets and are beginning to make global diversification a priority.”

8 Securities was a TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing 2011 finalist and currently manages over $750 million in customer assets.